


Heaven is a Place on Earth

by adrianicsea



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Afterlife, Black Mirror- San Junipero AU, M/M, and all that that implies, or soon-to-be afterlife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:31:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrianicsea/pseuds/adrianicsea
Summary: Mac has doubts about staying in San Junipero.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Black Mirror's San Junipero is, without exaggerating, quite possibly the greatest television program I've seen all year-- I CANNOT recommend it enough, if you haven't seen it already. The first time I saw it, it reduced me to tears. I thought it was such a beautiful story, but more importantly, the world it was set in raised so many questions and implications about religion and the afterlife. Apparently, the best way I could think of to explore those questions was with Mac and Charlie. Enjoy!

“So... Do you think you’re gonna stay here?” Charlie asks one evening. They’re sitting in the sand on the beach, watching the sinking sun cast the sky and the sea in brilliant golds and pinks. It’s a perfect sunset; but then, it always is here.

Mac sighs instead of answering. There’s a long beat of silence before he says, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Charlie parrots. He turns to look at Mac with a pout, but Mac isn’t looking at him. Instead, he’s frowning thoughtfully and staring off into the distance. Charlie can see the reflection of the surf glinting in his eyes, brown shot through with amber.

“It’s just...”

Mac gives another long sigh.

“All my life, I denied myself the things I wanted so I could have a shot at making it into Heaven, Charlie.”

Charlie’s pout turns into an earnest frown of confusion.

“Yeah, but that’s why we’re here now, isn’t it?” he asks. “So you don’t have to deny yourself anything. All you have to do to come here is ask.”

Mac bites his lip and shakes his head. He’s still gazing out to the ocean, still refusing to look at Charlie.

“This isn’t Heaven.”

“Isn’t it?” Charlie retorts. That gets Mac’s attention. He whips his head to stare at Charlie, nostrils flaring in a sudden rush of anger.

“No!” Mac cries out. “This is the furthest thing from Heaven!”

“Oh? And why is that?” Charlie asks, fighting that age-old urge to start yelling right back at Mac.

“Because Heaven is where you go after a life well-lived, Charlie!” Mac yells, explaining it like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “Heaven is your reward for a lifetime of pain and suffering and denying yourself the things you want!”

There it is. Charlie raises an eyebrow as he waves his hand around, indicating the beach.

“Isn’t that what this is?”

Charlie’s voice is soft, low, more of a suggestion than an accusation. Mac opens his mouth and starts to jab a finger in his direction, but before he says anything, he sighs yet again and closes his mouth.

“... Shut up,” Mac finally mumbles lamely. His gaze drops to the sand. As he watches him, Charlie’s expression softens. He scoots closer to Mac, reaching out one hand. Mac still won’t look up at him, but he extends his arm, finding Charlie’s hand and taking it without even needing to look up.

Charlie squeezes Mac’s hand reassuringly. After a long moment, Mac squeezes back.

“You know...” Charlie starts, his voice almost conversational in tone. He shifts a little, turning away from Mac to stare out at the sunset.

“If you’d asked me to describe Heaven 15 years ago, it would have sounded a lot like this.”

Mac blinks. He slowly looks up again and turns to look at Charlie.

“Really?” he asks.

Charlie looks back at him and smiles.

“Really. Just you and me, young again, none of that “cirrhosis” or “brain damage from inhalants” bullshit to worry about.”

Mac stares at Charlie for a long second before a slow smile of his own starts creeping onto his lips.

“... That’s pretty gay, dude,” Mac says. Still smiling, he pulls Charlie closer to hide his head in his neck. Charlie laughs and nods, wrapping an arm around Mac’s side.

“You would know,” Charlie jokes. As Mac chuckles against his neck, Charlie presses a kiss to his hair. Here, it’s still dark and thick and lustrous, always threatening to flop into Mac’s eyes. It looks the way Charlie likes to remember it best. 

As the pair of them fall into comfortable silence, the sun sinks lower over the water. Oranges and pinks fade to violets and yellowy blues, and the first stars of the night begin to twinkle far out over the waves.

“We should be getting back soon,” Mac finally sighs. Charlie could damn him for breaking the silence, especially to remind him that they have to go back. Going back means grey hair and nausea and that awful _fuzziness_ in Charlie’s head that never, ever goes away.

Still, he knows that Mac’s right. At least for now, they can’t stay here.

“Yeah,” Charlie replies with a nod.

“... Same time next week?” Mac asks. Charlie blinks in surprise, but nods eagerly, pulling Mac closer.

“It’s a date,” he says, chuckling softly, and Mac finally pulls away from his neck to stare at him. Crinkling with happiness, his eyes are stubbornly holding onto the last rays of sunlight, looking almost golden.

Even after all these years, Charlie’s breath catches as Mac leans in to kiss him, and just for this moment, it doesn’t matter that Mac still has second thoughts about this place.

Heaven, Charlie thinks, is right here and now.


End file.
